


Which Direction is the Right Direction?

by allin_ev_itable



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers Endgame, Gen, Nerd's first Marvel Fic, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter-centric, Post-Canon, endgame spoilers, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 07:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18616366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allin_ev_itable/pseuds/allin_ev_itable
Summary: It's been one month and Peter gets a call in the middle of class."He'd tried putting it into his computer, that hadn't worked at all. He'd tried looking through old archives that Pepper had allowed him to scan, nothing. He even tried asking Karen, hoping perhaps the man had sent something about it to him without him knowing. Nope. So, it looked like he was stuck with a million questions and no right answers."





	Which Direction is the Right Direction?

  Peter Parker was sick of losing people.

  First it was his parents, but he was so young he couldn't quite remember that. It still stung though, spending every Fathers Day looking through old trinkets and such that felt foreign to him even after years of looking at them. Responding with heavy sighs whenever any new person asked him about his mother.

  Then, it was Ben. And that one hurt so much more, considering the fact that he could've stopped it, could've _saved him_ , but every last "what if" that crossed his mind only reminded him that he couldn't keep doing that to himself. Ben wouldn't want him to spend the rest of his life lost in a sea of regret and "what if". So he didn't. He focused on saving other people, the little guys who needed a hero as much as anyone else.

  But right now, as he stood there surrounded by a herd of beings in black and saw May's stoic face become dampened with tears out of the corner of his eye, he realized several things. One, that Doctor Strange knew this would happen. He knew that in this one single outcome that Tony would have to die, would have to sacrifice himself to save everyone. And two, that Tony was okay with this. He was okay with it all as long as everyone, his friends, his family, were safe. 

  And the look in Tony's eyes as he took his last breath still haunted him, the peace lingering in his gaze hurting far more than the bruises that worsened on Peter's face.

**~*~**

  
  It was almost a month after Tony Stark's funeral when Peter's phone rang, interrupting his biology class. He had been so stuck in his work that he hadn't really heard it, until he noticed that his teacher had stopped talking and everyone's eyes were on him. He mumbled a quick "sorry" and pulled his phone from his pocket, the caller ID making his face fall as he quickly jumped up from his seat. "U-Uh, I need to take this. I'm sorry," he said, already almost out of the door and into the hallway. 

  "Hello?" he answered shakily, needing to lean against the lockers to support himself.

  "Peter? It's Pepper. Are you busy right now? I wasn't quite sure what time you get out of school today."

  The boy glanced up at a clock on the wall, seeing that he still had an hour and a half before school let out. But this was important, or else Pepper wouldn't be calling him in the middle of the day when she was typically busy with Morgan or work. "Busy? No, no I'm not busy. What's happening?" he asked, ignoring the bit of terror that rose within him. The whole Thanos situation had felt like forever ago, but still burned fresh in his mind. The nightmares were still so real. He didn't quite know if he could go back to fighting space assholes anytime soon. Or ever.

  "Nothing, everything is alright. Take a breath," Pepper replied almost immediately, earning a relieved exhale from the young Avenger. "Happy's coming to pick you up. We've got something for you."

  The drive was silent, something that's both a comfort and uneasiness for both Peter and Happy. For Happy, because he recalled the long rides in the car with Peter's nonstop blabbing, and for the spiderling because he was recalled the long car rides when he actually could talk happily for hours on end. Back when things were normal, and...normal wasn't there anymore. Normal probably wouldn't be there for a long time, if at all.

  When they finally reached the new compound, Peter got out of the backseat, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and closing the car door as gently as possible given his new pent up emotions. Being here at the compound always gave him all the negative feelings he sought to ignore. After all, he was the happy-go-lucky kid, and if he didn't stay like that then who else would take on the optimistic role? May had been telling him for weeks that he couldn't keep his emotions bottled up like he was, but it wasn't like he could really do much else. He had people to talk to, but they were either all still processing the same grief and trauma he was, or had no way to relate to someone who had fought the biggest threat to the universe and then watched the closest thing they had remaining to a father figure die right in front of their eyes. _Again._

  He hadn't he noticed he had entered the compound and stepped into the elevator until it had dinged and he walked out. Pepper looked different. It had only been about a week since he'd last seen her, but it seemed as though her appearance changed each time he saw her. Her eyes still had the same grief and heartache, but also carried the urge to carry on and held on to the happiness supplied by her daughter. 

  "Hey...Mrs. Stark," Peter greeted. The last name no longer threw him off like it used to. He wished he'd been there for it all. For the wedding, for all the chances to swing to the grocery store to get stuff for Pepper when she was craving something weird and Tony was busy helping her with any work she missed while she was growing a whole new life. For the opportunities to help out with Morgan when Tony and Pepper needed some sleep. He'd missed it all, because of-

  He had to cut off his thoughts when Pepper hugged him because he knew that she'd be able to tell what he was thinking about by the way he carried himself. She was very observant, and he was sure it was one of the things Tony loved about her. He hugged her back immediately, allowing himself to take a deep breath before pulling away and offering a small smile. "How've you been? How's Morgan?"

  "I've been...that's it. I've been," she answered honestly, looking down for a second before sighing and continuing. "Morgan's doing well. She misses you, you should come by soon."

  "I'll be sure to. We still haven't had an official winner in our pillow fight yet."

  "You know she beat you fair and square, you just aren't ready to admit that Spider-Man lost a fight to a child."

  The two laughed at their conversation, and something in Peter felt lighter, as if their discussions were beginning to not always hover over the same topic, the same _event_.

  "Um...I called you here because we found something, when the cleaning crew was clearing out the remains of the old compound. We're not sure if it works, but according to the label, it's for you." Pepper pulled out a small object and handed it to the boy, who accepted it and looked at the labelling etched into it.  
No name, not clues as to what it could be, just an illustration of a spider. 

**~*~**

  The world looked so much different from the roof of a really tall building. Everything looked smaller, slower. Less chaotic. It had become Peter's new favorite way to spent his evenings. Sleeping was out of the question for now, at least until the nightmares went away. Which probably meant he was never sleeping again, but it hadn't killed the spiderling yet, so he didn't mind too much.

  
  The night air was chilly but the heater in his suit cancelled it out, only leaving contrasting temperature to hit his uncovered face as he started down at the object in his hands. He'd completely run out of ideas as to what it could be. He'd tried putting it into his computer, that hadn't worked at all. He'd tried looking through old archives that Pepper had allowed him to scan, nothing. He even tried asking Karen, hoping perhaps the man had sent something about it to him without him knowing. Nope. So, it looked like he was stuck with a million questions and no right answers.

  That is, until he took the suit off that night, and his AI chip popped out. A chip that looked exactly like the mysterious object he'd been trying to figure out.  
When it all connected in his head, his first instinct was to freeze. Either out of excitement for finally figuring it out or out of fear for what he was about encounter, he didn't know. In one swift motion, he pulled Karen's chip from the suit and replaced it with the one given to him. He felt like he was on autopilot as he put the suit back on. Something given to him by Tony Stark, something he'd worked on even when he'd been gone for years. He decided that it was definitely fear as the system went back online.

  "Hey, kid."

  To say that Peter's heart ached would be an understatement.

  "...Mr. Stark?"

  "Indeed. What's on the agenda for tonight?"

  It had originally been an English essay, but the voice he heard responding to him had thrown that out the window. Along with himself.  
He shot a web at a building and just began to swing. No destination in mind, but he didn't need one. Things were going in the right direction. Slowly, and not without bumps and really, really rough times, but they were.

  "Let's go get some bad guys."

  Peter Parker was sick of losing people. So now, with something gained, he would make sure that never happened again.

  Not if Spider-Man had a say.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was my first Marvel fic and if you can't tell, I literally saw Endgame four hours ago. I'm in pain. Send help.
> 
> Talk about Endgame with me on Tumblr because I have literally nobody to talk to: @allin-ev-itable  
> You can also reach me on Twitter: @allin_ev_itable


End file.
